Camp gets former riders back in saddle

Welcome to Green Cove

Annie Jordan, 16, with the Green Cove Riding Program, rides her horse Jacob, around the ring on Thursday. The program has been giving riding lessons in the Lake Summit area for 40 years.

PHOTO BY MIKE DIRKS/ TIMES- NEWS

By JESSICA GOODMANTimes-News Staff Writer

Published: Sunday, March 11, 2012 at 7:52 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, March 11, 2012 at 7:52 a.m.

ZIRCONIA-- Bombay, at 36 the oldest horse at Camp Green Cove, plodded along Thursday during an early lesson for students. Sydney Hafner, 13, of Flat Rock, worked through the lessons of the two-point position, which helps build balance and control for riders.

For riders, the lessons are more than an opportunity for exercise. For 40 years, the stable has offered the lessons during the off season of the all-girls camp.

It can offer an escape from the daily grind, as it did for Pardee Hospital Chaplain Alexis Versalle.

Versalle started lessons after being successfully treated for cancer. She wanted to do something completely different than the emotionally charged work at the hospital. So she started riding, and the experience was renewing.